1 Samuel

And the ark of the LORD was in the country of the Philistines seven months.

1The ark of the LORD stayed in Philistine land for seven months.

2And the Philistines called for the priests and the diviners, saying, What shall we do to the ark of the LORD? tell us wherewith we shall send it to his place.

2The Philistines called their priests and their fortune-tellers, men who tried to learn hidden things. They asked, "What should we do with the ark of the LORD? Tell us how to send it home."

3And they said, If ye send away the ark of the God of Israel, send it not empty; but in any wise return him a trespass offering: then ye shall be healed, and it shall be known to you why his hand is not removed from you.

3They said, "If you send back the ark of Israel's God, do not send it empty. Send a gift with it to make up for the wrong you did. Then you will get well. And you will know why God kept punishing you."

4Then said they, What shall be the trespass offering which we shall return to him? They answered, Five golden emerods, and five golden mice, according to the number of the lords of the Philistines: for one plague was on you all, and on your lords.

4The Philistines asked, "What gift should we send back?" They answered, "Five gold sores and five gold mice. Make one of each for each of your five rulers. The same sickness came on you and on your rulers."

NoteThe KJV word "emerods" means painful swellings or tumors on the body. Older Bibles used that word; newer ones say "tumors" or "sores."

5Wherefore ye shall make images of your emerods, and images of your mice that mar the land; and ye shall give glory unto the God of Israel: peradventure he will lighten his hand from off you, and from off your gods, and from off your land.

5"Make models of your sores and of the mice that are ruining your land. Show honor to the God of Israel. Maybe he will stop punishing you, your gods, and your land."

6Wherefore then do ye harden your hearts, as the Egyptians and Pharaoh hardened their hearts? when he had wrought wonderfully among them, did they not let the people go, and they departed?

6"Why be stubborn, like Egypt and its king Pharaoh once were? God did powerful things there. In the end they let the people go, and the people left."

7Now therefore make a new cart, and take two milch kine, on which there hath come no yoke, and tie the kine to the cart, and bring their calves home from them:

7"So build a new cart. Take two cows that are feeding calves and have never pulled a load. Tie the cows to the cart. But take their calves away and shut them up at home."

8And take the ark of the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which ye return him for a trespass offering, in a coffer by the side thereof; and send it away, that it may go.

8"Put the ark of the LORD on the cart. Put the gold gifts in a box beside it. Then send the cart off on its way."

9And see, if it goeth up by the way of his own coast to Bethshemesh, then he hath done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us: it was a chance that happened to us.

9"Watch where it goes. If it goes up the road toward Beth-shemesh, then the LORD did this to us. If not, then it was not his doing. It only happened by chance."

Note"His own coast" in the KJV means his own land or home country, not the seashore.

10And the men did so; and took two milch kine, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home:

10The men did just that. They took two cows that were feeding calves and tied them to the cart. They shut the calves up at home.

11And they laid the ark of the LORD upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their emerods.

11They put the ark of the LORD on the cart. They also put on the box with the gold mice and the gold sores.

12And the kine took the straight way to the way of Bethshemesh, and went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left; and the lords of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Bethshemesh.

12The cows went straight up the road toward Beth-shemesh. They stayed on that one road and mooed as they walked. They did not turn right or left. The five Philistine rulers followed them to the edge of Beth-shemesh.

13And they of Bethshemesh were reaping their wheat harvest in the valley: and they lifted up their eyes, and saw the ark, and rejoiced to see it.

13The people of Beth-shemesh were cutting wheat down in the valley. They looked up and saw the ark. They were very happy to see it.

14And the cart came into the field of Joshua, a Bethshemite, and stood there, where there was a great stone: and they clave the wood of the cart, and offered the kine a burnt offering unto the LORD.

14The cart came into the field of a man named Joshua and stopped by a big rock. The people chopped up the cart for wood. They offered the two cows as a burnt gift to the LORD.

15And the Levites took down the ark of the LORD, and the coffer that was with it, wherein the jewels of gold were, and put them on the great stone: and the men of Bethshemesh offered burnt offerings and sacrificed sacrifices the same day unto the LORD.

15The Levites, the men who cared for holy things, lifted down the ark. They also lifted down the box with the gold in it. They set both on the big rock. That day the men of Beth-shemesh gave burnt gifts and other gifts to the LORD.

16And when the five lords of the Philistines had seen it, they returned to Ekron the same day.

16The five Philistine rulers watched all this. Then they went back to their city of Ekron that same day.

17And these are the golden emerods which the Philistines returned for a trespass offering unto the LORD; for Ashdod one, for Gaza one, for Askelon one, for Gath one, for Ekron one;

17The Philistines sent back five gold sores as a gift for their wrong. There was one for each city: Ashdod, Gaza, Ashkelon, Gath, and Ekron.

18And the golden mice, according to the number of all the cities of the Philistines belonging to the five lords, both of fenced cities, and of country villages, even unto the great stone of Abel, whereon they set down the ark of the LORD: which stone remaineth unto this day in the field of Joshua, the Bethshemite.

18They sent gold mice too, one for each Philistine town under the five rulers. That counted the walled cities and the small villages. The big rock where they set the ark is still in Joshua's field today.

19And he smote the men of Bethshemesh, because they had looked into the ark of the LORD, even he smote of the people fifty thousand and threescore and ten men: and the people lamented, because the LORD had smitten many of the people with a great slaughter.

19But God struck down men of Beth-shemesh, because they had looked inside the ark. Seventy men died. The people cried with sadness over so many deaths.

NoteThe KJV here says "fifty thousand and threescore and ten men," which is 50,070. Many old handwritten copies say only seventy, and most modern Bibles follow those.

20And the men of Bethshemesh said, Who is able to stand before this holy LORD God? and to whom shall he go up from us?

20The men of Beth-shemesh said, "Who can stand before the LORD, this holy God? Where should the ark go from here?"

21And they sent messengers to the inhabitants of Kirjathjearim, saying, The Philistines have brought again the ark of the LORD; come ye down, and fetch it up to you.

21So they sent messengers to the town of Kiriath-jearim. They said, "The Philistines have sent back the ark of the LORD. Come down and take it up to your town."